Watchful Eyes

Something's not right!

It was a nice vacation, renting a cabin for the weekend, Sally, Jeremiah, and Cassie. It was an old cabin with history to some mobster in the 20s, which is already cool as hell, sitting at the bank of a lake, surrounded by forests.
When they had gotten there that afternoon, it was peaceful and quiet, a nice change of pace from their busy school lives. Cassie had left about an hour ago to go across the lake in one of the rented boats to stock up on supplies run by one of the locals, leaving the two of them to unpack their bags as night began to creep in.
"Ugh, this place is cute as fuck, but I wish technology. I mean, why the fuck can't there be a fridge with a water dispenser? I like, can't with all this well water crap."
"It's only for a few days, suck it up. I can take care of that well, handle, thingy, if you can't with those noodles of yours," Jeremiah teased with a small flex, looking for bucket to fill so they could get some water to fill their baths for that night. As he found it, Sally yanked it from his hand, grumpy.
"Okay, macho man, I'll show you noodles." She tied her pink flannel around her waist and stomped outside, bucket in hand as red and oranges gave way to black and blues.
Wishing that she for once thought about practicality over fashion, she carefully made her way to the well spigot, trying to make sure her heels didn't sink into the mud.
Jeremiah stood at the porch, cackling watching her stumble and pout.
"Oh, I'm Jeremiah, I can lumber around like an idiot cause I got tree trunks for arms, oh I'm so strong, fuck off," Sally imitated in, making a voice under her breath as she cranked the handle up and down.
"You get water yet?"
"Fuck off, brochure said you gotta do it a bit to get it started or some shit? Can you grab the flashlight or turn on the lamp? It's getting hard to see!"
Jeremiah walked back inside to grab the lantern to hand on the porch awning, the dark rolling in fast as a normal autumn night would. The bright greens and yellows and browns of the forest of the day that sat just feet from their cabin were now black and thick, ominous, and Sally got a chill up her spine, pumping hard trying to finish up as quick as possible.
The lantern was lit, a soft glow around the patio but not much else, Jeremiah went to lean back against the post when his eyes caught movement by the forest clearing.

"Hey Sal, we don't have to take a bath. How about just come in and we'll do it in the morning." Jeremiah proposed, leaning over to get a better look, seeing something, definitely not people.
"Like hell, it's almost halfway full, give me like five," a hard pump, "fucking," a loud grunt of effort, "minutes!"
"Sal, shut the fuck up, something's off."
"Yeah, your pride I bet! not as strong as me, huh?"
"Sally, you know I could snap you in fucking two."
"Like hell you could."
"Come in and well try."
"Hell n-"
Their bickering was cut short at the loud piercing sound of howling, exceptionally close howling, reverberating through the night air. They both took a minute to process it before Jeremiah looked back to the clearing where he had seen movement.
There was even more movement, and what had just been glimpses of figures where now much more visible, large and on all fours, yellow eyes glowing in the darkness, maybe three or four sets of them. He immediately thought wolves, but they weren't native to their state. Big dogs, maybe? Jeremiah loved dogs, but he had a strong feeling that these were not the pet-able kind.
Letting go of the handle and leaving the pail on the ground, sally sidestepped closer to cabin, spotting the dogs only a few meters away, but close enough to hear their howls, to hear their snarling.
"You know what, in the morning sounds perfect,, uh how about we go inside?" Sally said in a wavey, panicked voice, bolting up the stairs towards the open door. The sudden movement must have aggravated the dogs as they began to bark and start their sprint at them.
Jeremiah shoved sally in through the door, letting the screen slam as he pushed. The heavy oak door closed, letting out a yell of surprise as he heads one of the dog things ram into it, flinging its body against the wood.
"What the fuck? What the fuck Jer? Who is letting their dogs loose to fucking maul people??" Sally yelled, holding onto his arm as another dog slammed into the door.
"I don't fucking know; these have got to be wild or some shit?" Jeremiah was equally rattled, putting a protective hand around her waist, watching the door rattle in its frame as dogs slammed into it, trying to break it down. They both heard a crash of the lantern as it was snuffed out.
"What are we going to do??"
"Well, dogs can't unlock doors? So, we should be fine, and if something happens, I've got two solutions right here," Jeremiah assured with a shaky voice as he pointed at his fists. He could see the figure in the window behind the blinds, but frankly, they didn't seem to be getting in.
"Yeah. I know you can beat the shit out of anyone, but I don't think that counts for packs of killer dogs."
Jeremiah knew she was right. He was strong and always won his fights, but he didn't think he could fistfight four dogs without getting badly hurt.
The walls shook again at the aggressive attack, Sally yelping and grabbing his hand, and then as suddenly as the beast had arrived, it stopped, hearing the patter of paws on the wood porch and the distant barking as the canniness ran back to the woods. They both ran to the window and watched their forms disappear into the darkness.
"Well, fuck, I'm scared"
"Yeah, no shit."
Double checking everything was still properly locked, he grabbed Sally's hand and guided her upstairs, pushing their dresser in front of the upstairs door. Just to be safe. Despite the four beds the rented cabin provided, they laid down together on one, Jeremiah wrapping his arms around her as she laid back against his side, both of them watching the door, hearing low howls from far off throughout the night. Neither of them got a lot of sleep that night.